Principal Data Scientist - Healthcare

Kainos; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

At Kainos, we deliver production-grade AI solutions across government, healthcare, defence, and commercial sectors. We seek a senior AI leader to set AI and data science direction, drive cloud-native architectures, and mentor a growing team of data scientists and engineers.

You will engage with C-level stakeholders to translate complex AI concepts into business value, shape commercial AI offerings, and foster partnerships to scale impact and value from AI investments.

Qualifications

• Proven track record delivering production-grade AI/ML solutions at scale.
• Technical leadership in AI delivery.
• Deep expertise in AI/ML models including time series, supervised/unsupervised learning, RL, LLMs and agentic AI.
• Experience with prompt engineering, RAG and orchestration of agentic AI systems.
• Expertise in data engineering for AI with large-scale unstructured data and integrating non-traditional data sources.
• Deep understanding of responsible AI, model interpretability and ethics with policy/standards influence.
• Ability to communicate with C-level and senior stakeholders translating complex tech into business value.
• Experience developing and executing account strategies with sales and account managers.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams and AI communities.
• Strong commercial acumen with history of influencing AI product success.
• Familiarity with data storage for AI, vector databases, semantic search, and knowledge graphs (desirable).
• Open-source contributions desirable.

Responsibilities

• Deliver large-scale, high-impact AI solutions leveraging state-of-the-art ML, generative, and agentic AI technologies.
• Set the direction for AI and data science across the business, driving modern AI development practices and cloud-native architectures.
• Provide technical and thought leadership, engaging with C-level and senior stakeholders to define architectural principles and strategic direction.
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and engineering excellence within Kainos and across the wider industry.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a community of data scientists, AI engineers, and technical managers.
• Ensure the adoption of robust standards and responsible AI practices.
• Build enduring customer relationships and proactively develop new alliances with technology partners.
• Shape Kainos’ commercial AI offerings and influence account strategies to ensure customers receive measurable business value from AI investments.

Skills

AI delivery leadership

Executive communication

Team leadership

Business development

Policy influence

Commercial acumen

Open-source contributions

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

scikit-learn

XGBoost

LLMs fine-tuning

Job description

Salary: £28,000 - 51,000 per year

Requirements:

• Proven track record of accountability for the delivery of complex, production-grade AI/ML solutions at scale.
• Demonstrable experience of technical leadership in AI delivery.
• Deep expertise in developing and assuring advanced AI/ML models, including time series, supervised/unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, LLMs and agentic AI.
• Experience with the latest AI engineering approaches such as prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and orchestration of agentic AI systems.
• Expertise in data engineering for AI: handling large-scale, unstructured, and multimodal data, and integrating non-traditional data sources.
• Deep understanding of responsible AI principles, model interpretability and ethical considerations, with a track record of influencing policy and standards.
• Ability to communicate and negotiate with C-level and senior stakeholders, translating complex technical concepts into business value.
• Experience in developing and executing account strategies, shaping commercial AI offerings and driving business development in partnership with sales and account managers.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead high-performing teams and wider AI and data science communities.
• Strong commercial acumen with a history of influencing the commercial success of AI products and solutions.
• Experience with modern deep learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow), fine-tuning or distillation of LLMs (e.g., GPT, Llama, Claude, Gemini), and advanced ML libraries (e.g. scikit-learn, XGBoost) (desirable).
• Experience with data storage for AI, vector databases, semantic search, and knowledge graphs (desirable).
• Active contribution to open-source AI projects, research publications, and industry events/websites (desirable).
• Familiarity with AI security, privacy, and compliance standards (e.g. ISO 42001) (desirable).

Responsibilities:

• Deliver large-scale, high-impact AI solutions leveraging state-of-the‑art machine learning, generative, and agentic AI technologies.
• Set the direction for AI and data science across the business, driving modern AI development practices and cloud‑native architectures.
• Provide technical and thought leadership, engaging with C-level and senior stakeholders to define architectural principles and strategic direction.
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and engineering excellence within Kainos and across the wider industry.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a community of data scientists, AI engineers, and technical managers.
• Ensure the adoption of robust standards and responsible AI practices.
• Build enduring customer relationships and proactively develop new alliances with technology partners.
• Shape Kainos’ commercial AI offerings and influence account strategies to ensure customers receive measurable business value from AI investments.

Technologies:

• AI
• Cloud
• Machine Learning
• PyTorch
• Security
• TensorFlow
• AWS
• Support

More:

At Kainos, we’re problem solvers, innovators, and collaborators, recognized as one of the UK’s leading AI and data businesses. We have a decade‑long track record of delivering impactful, production‑grade AI solutions across government, healthcare, defence, and commercial sectors. Our AI and Data Practice, made up of 150 talented individuals, brings deep expertise in machine learning, generative AI, and responsible AI practices. We prioritize a people‑first culture that values your ideas and supports your growth while recognizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our team, fostering an environment where everyone can thrive.

last updated 36 week of 2026